Temperatures in Jiuzhaigou can be as low as 16 degrees Celsius at night.
After the earthquake, local people of different ethnic groups voluntarily offered food, water or car rides to stranded tourists and rescue workers.
Liu Zuoming, Communist Party chief of the Aba prefecture, said local authorities will roll out plans to relocate some locals in the future to reduce threats to their safety by secondary disasters.
QUICK RESPONSE
Governments of all levels have responded quickly to the disaster.
The State Council has sent a national work team to the disaster-hit area to guide relief work.
Sichuan Province dispatched over 1,300 armed policemen, 1,108 firefighters, 55 sets of heat sensors and 30 sniffer dogs to Jiuzhaigou.
A total of 455 firefighters from Shaanxi Province have been organized on standby, and 28 rescue workers from Gansu Province have carried out rescue work.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has instructed airports to keep track of available runways and gate positions while asking airlines to help with emergency evacuation of tourists in the disaster-hit area.
The Ministry of Transport has formed a leading group to guide local transportation authorities to aid the rescue.
The China Meteorological Administration has initiated enhanced weather forecasting in the area.
China's quake response, including action capability, rescue equipment and relief materials, has made great progress during the years after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, said Xu Qiang, a geological disaster prevention expert with the Chengdu University of Technology.
"Around 60,000 tourists have been evacuated within 24 hours and the rescue operation is very professional," said Xu.
The country's mature emergency response mechanism ensures rescue efficiency, commentator Zhu Xu told China National Radio.
For example, rescue efforts, such as medical relief and traffic control, were activated about an hour after the quake. The Jiuzhai-Huanglong Airport, the transportation hub for relief work, resumed flights shortly after the quake, he said.
"Globally speaking, they (the medical staff) are very efficient. No people got left behind, and everything is in good order," said Romain Vallon, a French national who was traveling with his brother and mother in the area.
His younger brother got wounded in the legs during the quake and received treatment at the people's hospital of Jiuzhaigou County.
TECH ADVANCES
Technological advances have also helped make rescue more sophisticated.
Many land detecting satellites have been arranged to monitor the disaster-hit area and satellite images will be sent to China's disaster relief, earthquake and meteorological authorities, according to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation.
A meteorological satellite developed by the corporation will also offer weather information to the quake-hit area.
China Satellite Communication Co., Ltd. has opened temporary fast channels to ensure news reporting from the disaster scene.
The land and resources department and geological institutes of Sichuan have used equipment such as drones, satellite phones and 3D laser scanners to monitor the area to prevent secondary disasters.
